Take Action! Write to the Chief Minister of Karnataka

A sample letter to the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Mr.S.M.Krishna, is
present later on this page. We encourage you to endorse this letter by
mailing/emailing the Chief Minister and marking a copy to the Union Minister
for Environment and Forests, Mr. T. R. Baalu. Please include your full name,
affiliation (if any) and address (required), before sending this letter,
and remember to mark a copy to ESG (address as below). Your voice in
support of the Kali Bachao Andolan could go a long way in supporting the
cause of this river.

Sample Letter to the Chief Minister

I/We appeal to you to address the concerns raised by the Kali Bachao
Andolan (KBA) formed by several local community organizations and tribal
villages to highlight severe threats to the Kali River and protect it for
posterity.

There are already 6 major hydel plants on the river and there are serious
attempts to build another dam near Dandeli, which will submerge over 210
hectares of forests that abuts the Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary consisting
of rare flora and fauna. The existing 6 dams have already submerged over
32,000 acres of forests in Uttara Kannada. The river is also being
polluted by the Dandeli Paper Mill which discharges its untreated liquid
effluents directly into the river. In addition, there is also illegal
sand mining on the banks of the Kali River that has been reported widely
in the regional newspapers.

Murdeshwar Power Corporation Limited (MPCL) proposed the 7th dam to
generate an additional power of 18 MW, but the dam will significantly add
to the burden on the river, which has been dammed repeatedly to generate
an excess of 1000 MW of electricity. In fact, the total power requirement
of the Uttara Kannada district is only 17 MW. Yet, there are villages in
Uttara Kannada that languish in darkness. Clearly, Uttara Kannada has
already been producing a lot of power for the rest of the state at high
costs to the rich forests of the district and the people who depend on the
river and the forests for their livelihood. Besides, this power from MPCL
will cost over 15 times the cost of hydel power produced by the state-run
KPCL according to some estimates. The forest and ecological wealth of this
area is invaluable for the people of Karnataka and needs to be protected
from further destruction by adopting sound developmental and ecologically
appropriate development policies. The increased power requirements of the
state could be alleviated by vigorously exploring other alternatives, like
mproving the efficiency of the existing hydel plants on the Kali River
and by constructing several micro-hydel and pico-hydel schemes that
generate power at minimal costs with no submergence.

Construction of this new dam is also a significant violation of the 19th
May 1987 Government of Karnataka order (No. FFD 242 FGL 83) that no
further projects involving diversion of forest land for other uses will be
undertaken on Kali River or its tributaries. Several directions of the
Hon'ble Supreme Court endorse the spirit of this decision. Particular
note has to be taken of the fact that MPCL, along with its consultants
Ernst and Young and Tata Energy Research Institute, have twice attempted
to get environmental clearance for this dam on the basis of fraudulent
EIAs. On exposure, and on the basis of Statutory Environmental Public
Hearings conducted, the Deputy Commissioner of Uttara Kannada has
recommended that the dam should not be allowed. This view is echoed by
the District Forest Officer in his recent survey on the submergence caused
by the dam.

Apart from being dammed, the Kali River is also being polluted by the
Dandeli Paper Mills that discharges large volumes of its untreated
effluents into the Kali River. The once beautiful and clear river has
been turned into an obnoxiously smelly gutter of pulp waste and sewage at
Dandeli. Repeated appeals by local communities and environmental groups
to get this plant to clean up its act have had little support from the
regulatory agencies. The Kali Bachao Andolan is not demanding a closure
of the Dandeli Paper Mills - which will affect the employees of the mill.
Rather, the emphasis is on getting the mill to clean up its operations
which will be of benefit to all, including the employees of the mill.

On the occasion of the World Environment Day, we appeal that you should
take the initiative in ensuring Kali is saved for posterity. Please ensure
that:
a) No more dams will be allowed on the Kali.
b) The serious pollution of the Kali from the Dandeli Paper Mills and
other sources is ended now.
c) Illegal sand mining on the Banks of Kali and its tributaries is stopped.

We support the aspirations of the people of Uttara Kannada who want the
Kali flowing and alive with life. Not dammed, polluted and dead.